In the wake of September 11, the United States may introduce a biometric identification system for all transport workers that could form the blueprint for a global "trusted traveller" smart card for air passengers.
The cards, prototypes of which have been developed by high-tech companies, match the holder's personal data, such as their name and nationality, with their biometric information, such as fingerprints, hand geometry, facial and dental structure or iris shape.
The "trusted traveller" system - a version of which was implemented at Israeli airports five years ago - would cut airline queues by allowing card holders to more quickly pass through security checkpoints.
But critics in the United States charge that such a system would be "a backdoor national ID" and say that those without a card will be automatically considered suspect, the Washington Times reported.
"This so-called trusted passenger card will become essentially mandatory for everyone to use not only airlines but also buses, trains and perhaps drives over bridges and (through) tunnels," a spokesman of the American Civil Liberties Union told the Times.
